Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

 

In our Gospel today, we hear that if our hand causes us to sin, “cut it off.” God is not talking about cutting our actual hand, but rather things that pull us away from Him. As Lent nears, I have been praying about what I should give up and what was holding me back in my relationship with God, ranging from social media to all of my material things. I think that purging my unnecessary material items will allow me to let go and be able to grow closer to God. I saw this first-hand on a trip to Peru, where families had nothing, but their faith was stronger than mine, even with my having many things. This was a strong testament to the fact that our things do not dictate our relationship with our faith but sometimes they can hinder it. As John Bosco says, “Be brave and try to detach your heart from worldly things.”

Reflection by Henry, seminarian